


The Perfect Gift

by MeganMoonlight



Category: Hellboy (Movies 2004-2008), Hellboy - All Media Types
Genre: Birthday Presents, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gift Giving, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:00:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22392925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeganMoonlight/pseuds/MeganMoonlight
Summary: Hellboy finds out when John's birthday is, and wants to give him a gift.
Relationships: Hellboy/John Myers
Comments: 6
Kudos: 101
Collections: Small Fandoms Fest





	The Perfect Gift

When Hellboy found out when John's birthday was, it was by accident. More or less. 

They were sitting in John's old room, that was now just his office, about an hour before their team was supposed to head out to find a nest of rogue demons that apparently took over one of the abandoned clothes factories. Hellboy was lying on the bed, trying to nap, while John was working on... something or other, Hellboy wasn't exactly sure, he wasn't paying much attention, to be honest. He decided to stick around because for some reason, he found the sounds of his boyfriend doing paperwork kind of calming, didn't matter how weird that sounded.

But then John sighed quietly as he put down his pen. It wasn't his usual 'What have you done now, HB?' sigh, or even a 'Really? Are you serious?' sigh. Hellboy knew those two very well, so he could tell. This was a sigh he had not heard in a long while. 

Hellboy walked up to John, before leaning against him to watch him fill out some kind of a form. Scanning the page quickly, Hellboy didn't find anything that could possibly be sigh-inducing. 

John just finished writing down his date of birth, but as soon as he did, he covered the form with another sheet of paper, and then quickly stuffed them both inside his desk drawer. As if purposefully hiding it from Hellboy. Huh. Weird.

"So... your birthday's in a week. You doing anything special?" Hellboy grinned, leaning against the desk, but John just stood up and grabbed a few folders from the desk, before patting Hellboy on the shoulder with them.

"Not really. Come on, Abe and Liz must be waiting for us already. We only have half an hour to go over the details of this mission."

Yup, it definitely was a weird reaction. But since John apparently was not expecting anything much for his birthday, that meant Hellboy needed do do something fun for him. He had to find the perfect gift.

He wondered what Abe would think about that.

***

"Abe, what would you get for a guy who does paperwork when he's bored and nags you about pretty much everything?"

Waiting for an answer, Hellboy flopped down on the couch, watching his friend read the book that was opened for him in front of the tank.

After what felt like an hour, Abe looked up from the text and tilted his head in silence. It made Hellboy groan loudly. "What? I'm serious."

"Why are you asking?" Abe turned his atention back to the book. "Honestly, Hellboy, I do not think I would describe making sure you are not hurt as 'nagging'."

"Yeah, yeah, fine," Hellboy rolled his eyes. "So, pointers?"

"As his partner, shouldn't you know best what would be the most suitable gift for him?" 

"Low blow," Hellboy scratched the back of his neck with his flesh hand. "Come on, Abe, help a guy out. You two talk. Did he mention anything in particular he'd like? Anything?"

Abe tilted his head again, and Hellboy did not like that. Not at all. "I assumed you two talk as well."

"Hey. Don't look at me like that," Hellboy pointed a finger at him. "He doesn't talk about what he wants, really. I mean, I know he wants to sleep in sometimes and do less paperwork, but hey, it's not like I can tell all the bad guys to give us a day off, okay?"

"Well, that is true." 

Just when Hellboy thought Abe would say something else, his friend just turned his attention back to his book without another word. Seriously.

"Really, Abe?"

"Yes. I just believe you will manage to find an appropriate gift for John on your own," Abe stated, and it was not difficult to notice the corners of his mouth rising slightly. "John will appreciate it much more that way. I believe in you."

Hellboy groaned. His friend was an asshole.

Well, at least he still had time to come up with something good.

***

"Liz, you got a sec?"

"Sure. What's up?" Liz asked, munching on a candy bar, while folding her clothes slowly. Turning around briefly to face him, she reached inside her jacket pocket to take out another bar. When she threw it to Hellboy, he caught it easily and unwrapped right away.

"I need a birthday gift for John," he muttered, taking a bite of his candy. "Any ideas?"

Apparently Hellboy still could surprise people with his questions, judging by the frown that appeared on Liz's face right then. She just shrugged as she got back to folding her shirts. "He didn't mention it's his birthday."

"Yeah, I saw him filing in some paperwork. Thought it'd be, you know, nice, to get him something."

One corner of Liz's lips rose in a gentle smile. "Could be. John doesn't strike me as a celebrating type, though. I don't think I've ever heard him mention his birthday before, now that I think about it."

"That's why I thought I could get him somethin'."

"Well, good luck with that."

"Yeah, thanks, but I kinda thought you'd help me," Hellboy sat down one the bed with a groan. "I'm out of ideas here."

Liz sat down next to him with a bounce, and nudged him with one shoulder. "Come on, I'm sure that's not true."

"You know I'm not good at this stuff, Liz," Hellboy grumbled as the back of his head connected with the wall behind him with a thud. 

"Believe me, you're better than you think," Liz nudged him again, and her half-smile almost instantly made him feel a lot better. She always had that effect on him. "You'll do fine, just don't overthink it."

 _Right. Try not to overthink it._ He could do that. Liz was usually right, after all.

***

A week later, Hellboy found John in their room, napping. He must have been reading something on his tablet and fell asleep, because he was still in his clothes.

Hellboy took off his coat and, instead of throwing it on the chair like he usually did, he put it down gently, mindful of the small parcel hidden in one of the pockets.

He laid down next to his boyfriend, and as if on cue, John gravitated towards him right away and snuggled in close, making Hellboy grin. Sleepy John was fucking adorable.

"I thought you would be hanging out with Liz," John muttered sleepily, his eyes still closed as his arms tightened around his partner's middle.

"Yeah, we were, and now I'm back." 

Now that John was half-sprawled on top of him, Hellboy realized that he should have brought the gift with him before lying down. John was like a very, very affectionate octopus when he was sleeping. Fortunately, the coat wasn't _too_ far away, so he somehow managed to pull it closer and take the parcel out.

"Happy birthday," he muttered, laying the small bundle next to John's hand that was currently on Hellboy's stomach, but when for the next few minutes the other man didn't even stir, Hellboy thought he had fallen back asleep. Only after a longer while John finally moved, hiding his face against Hellboy's chest. 

"You didn't have to." John didn't even make a move to reach for the gift as he said that, which Hellboy kind of expected, actually.

They laid there in silence for half an hour or so. Hellboy was very aware of the fact that John was definitely not asleep. His breathing was slow and slightly uneven, and Hellboy was running his fingers up and down his back, trying very, very hard not to ask John what was going on. His patience was finally awarded when John moved his fingers to wrap them around the gift.

"I mean it. You really didn't have to," John yawned briefly. "I don't really celebrate birthdays. They never were a big deal in my family."

"So, you don't want your gift then?" Hellboy made a move to grab the bundle, but the other man hid it behind his back with a smile.

"I didn't say that," John sat up and unwrapped the gift, revealing a pair of bright red socks with tiny dog paw prints on them. Chuckling at the gift, John shook his head. Jackpot. "Really, HB?"

"Yup. I remembered you telling Liz that a few pairs of your favorite socks had been ruined during missions and, well, I think those fit your whole aesthetic pretty well." Grinning, Hellboy reached out to wrap his fingers around John's forearm and tugged gently, making John lay back down. "I pay attention, you know. Sometimes."

Looking up at him and still smiling, John pressed a kiss to Hellboy's jaw. "Thanks. They're perfect."

"Yeah?"

John put the socks away before snuggling against Hellboy's side once again, letting himself relax. "Yes, pretty much."

"Happy not-birthday, then," Hellboy kissed his boyfriend on the forehead and closed his eyes, feeling content. 

Mission accomplished.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Round 26 of [Smallfandomfest](http://smallfandomfest.dreamwidth.org/) for the prompt: Hellboy (movie), Hellboy/John - _"He needed the perfect gift."_
> 
> Enjoy!


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